Door County Half Marathon

Door County Half Marathon

May 7^th, 2016

On the 7th the whole family made the trek up to Door County for the Door County Half Marathon.  Jess made her race debut post baby #2, I was looking to knock some rust off before the Ice Age Trail 50 Mile race the following weekend and our parents came along to watch the girls and cheer us on.  My plan was to win the race, be conservative and possible snatch a course record. 

The hour and a half trip up to Peninsula State park was uneventful.  I picked up our packets, Jess and I went on our warm-up and we met back up with the family in the staging area which is about a quarter of a mile from the start.  I went off to use the restroom, came back to our meeting spot and the family was gone!!! It is now 15 minutes before the race.  There are 2500 racers and  hundreds of spectators on a 12 foot wide road that is wooded on both sides between me and the start line. My parents have my jersey and are somewhere in the masses.  I dodge the trees and scramble to the start line in hopes that Jess is waiting there with my jersey, she is waiting there but she is not holding a jersey.  We both scramble back through the woods going our own direction.  I get to the end of masses and I still haven’t found my parents.  I ask a random person to use their phone and call my parents; Jess found them and is back at the start with my jersey.  As I start to sprint back to the start line I bump into my father in-law, I give him my warm-ups and continue on.  I meet Jess, get my jersey and try to settle my nerves.

BANG! The gun goes off.  Knowing I’m on an adrenaline rush from the jersey fiasco I focus on staying calm and relaxed.  I hit the 1^st mile in 5:30 and I’m all by myself.  I continue to stay calm and relaxed and stroll through the rolling hills of Peninsula State park clipping off miles between 5:10 and 5:30 pace, never letting the pace feel laboring.  I break the tape in 1:10:02. Mission accomplished.

After some high fives and congratulations I back track the course to find Jess.  I get to around the 11 mile mark and there she is.  I encourage her on through her struggles of the last couple of mile.  Nearing the finish line she picks up our daughter Audrey and they cross the line together.  It wasn’t the race she was hoping for but it was a good for a comeback race none the less.

All in all it was a great race, even with the jersey fiasco at the start.  I got a nice gift basket for the win, it was a scenic course, the volunteers were great and the race was very well put on.  You can plan on seeing me at this race again in the years to come.

Ice Age Trail 50 Mile

Ice Age Trail 50 Mile
May 14th, 2016

Ice Age Trail 50 wasn't initially on my race schedule; however, i was asked to run the race.  With it being the 35th anniversary of the race and a $5000 bonus for a course record and $200 for age group records, I decided to take part.  Max King set the course record and my age group record in 2014 with the insane time of 5:41:07.  Two years ago I ran just under 5:28 at TNF-WI which is on the trails just north of IAT50 so I figured on a good day I'd have a shot at the record.

The race started off great.  In the first 9 mile loop I was clipping off miles well ahead of record pace and the race was feeling almost too good.  On the next out and back loop, things continued to go well and I felt great.  At the 30.5 mile aide station Jess said that I was ~5 minutes under course record pace (I made a cheat sheet for her that had what time I had to be at each aide station for the record... yes I'm a runner nerd sometimes).  Mile 33 I had a little rough patch where I got light headed.  My legs felt great, I just got starry vision so I backed off a little bit and it clear up.  Fast forward 3 miles and the same thing happened.  This time I had to walk for almost 3 miles before I felt comfortable enough to run without fear of passing out.  At this point the 5 plus minutes I was under CR pace was wiped out and I was actually well behind pace to even make it up in the last 10 or so miles.  That being said I jogged it into the 40 mile aide station and called it a day (best aide station I've ever been to which was put on by Flatlander ultrarunners... they had beer, shots, music, dance party, cold pizza, etc).

                       
Unfortunately this was not the first time I experienced  lightheadedness in a 50 mile race. At Fall 50 last year in Door County, I had the same thing happen around 30 miles as well. Both races I was taking plenty of fluids and nutrition.  Both races my legs felt fine and I was injury free.  Looks like I need to experiment with some different electolye mixes, sugar mixes and race fueling.

All in all, I'm new at this ultra stuff yet and will take these races as learning experiences to improve for the future. I finally have my injuries in check and I am developing specific strength in order for this mid-western guy to compete with the best on the mountains (thanks to my PT wife)! The first electrolyte mix that I am going to experiment with is Tailwind Nutrition. I will have to find something else with higher natural sugar and good absorption in order to prevent glucose depletion between 30-40 miles. 

I did have good success with my new FITS socks, which provided just enough cushion and moisture wicking to prevent blisters from forming! Definitely my new favorite sock! Plus they are made in the USA!

Next up US 50 mile trail champs at Cayuga Trails in Ithaca, NY on June 4th.  The race has a solid list runners, can't wait for the fun.

USANA Sponsorship

I started taking USANA vitamins back in February (suggestion from my wife Jessica as she noticed significant results after starting using them herself). I noticed my energy levels increase and my recovery times were quickened.  Along with the vitamins I started eating their snack bars pre-run (instead of cliff bars) and drinking their nutrimeal shakes post run for recovery.

After the 50 mile trail championships I was back to running and feeling pretty good after just a couple of days.  Usually it takes me a couple of weeks to feel as I did after 3 days and this was the toughest 50 mile race that I have run.

Liking the product I submitted an application to become one of the 700+ athletes sponsored by USANA.  At the end of July I was informed that I was now a member of the Team USANA.

If you're interest in learning about USANA's products (vitamins, minerals, Reset program, snack bars, shakes, energy drinks and more) send me an email (tyler.sigl@gmail.com) or message me on facebook.

Website:
https://usana.com
tylerandjessicasigl.usana.com

Cheesehead Half marathon Hilbert, WI

The Cheesehead Half is becoming a traditional race on my race schedule.  The race is growing in size and in competition (thanks to the addition of prize $ that started last year).  I wanted to use this race as a good speed workout as I've been focusing more on just running miles as opposed to doing speed work.

On race morning I was up early and was helping to get stuff ready for Audrey's 2nd birthday party.  I left the house around 6:00am and headed to the race that I thought started at 8:00.  As I neared the race I noticed there were a lot of people there already and people were warming up.  Turns out the race starts at 7:15 and it is now 7:00.  I quickly park, grab my bib and do a mile shakeout and head to the starting line.  I do a couple of strides and a little stretching and it is go time.  The gun goes off and I join my fellow WRRT teammate John Dewitt at the front of the lead pack.  We run the first 4 miles averaging 4:59 miles and we found ourselves on our own in front.  At this point my legs were a bit pissed off at me as they weren't use to that fast of running and they had enough.  I left John take the lead and I settled into a little more comfortable pace.

Being a race held in a small country town with half the race on a crushed pea gravel travel in the middle of farm fields, there wasn't much for crowd support to lift my spirits and give me a little more energy to pick the pace back up so I never caught back up with John and we finished 1-2.  We both (along with 3rd) picked up a little cash, cheese, honey and a locally spun ceramic mug.

The top 4 of us went on a cool down together and waited around for awards.  I avoided the smorgasbord of buffet food that was there for the finishers along with the gut rot that it would later give me and instead had one of my chocolate whey USANA nutrimeal shakes.

Link to results:
http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=48492#racetop

Top 5 results:

1.	John Dewitt	1:06:45
2.	Tyler Sigl	1:08:41
3.	Nathan Weiland	1:10:51
4.	Jason Ryf	1:13:08
5.	Zachary Ziesemer	1:19:17

2015 summer/fall race schedule

8/22 Cheesehead Half Marathon Hilbert, WI
10/3 North Face WI 50 mile Dousman, WI
10/24 Fall 50 50 mileDoor County, WI
12/5 North Face Championships 50 mile San Francisco, CA

IAU 100K World Championships 2015

I was recently informed that I had been selected as the first alternate for the US National 100K team to compete at the IAU 100K World Championships in Winschoten, The Netherlands. Shortly after receiving this news I was informed that one of the top 6 men would not be competing and a spot was mine for the taking if I wanted it.  One of my life long dreams of being able to don the Red, white and blue for a race was now becoming a reality... almost.  The date of the race is September 12. The expected date of out 2nd little one is mid September. Having my priorities straight and putting my family first I declined the offer to be on the 100K world team as to not miss the birth of our 2nd child.  Looks like I'll just have to keep getting after it for another year.

2015 US 100k Worlds Team:
Max King
Zach Bitter
Zach Miller
Mike Bialick
Joe Binder
Chikara Omine

Alternates:
Tyler Sigl
Matt Flaherty
Jim Walmsley

Bellin Run 10K: June 13, 2015

The Bellin is a local 10K race that I've ran 11 of the past 12 years and it has a pretty competitive field. This year the race served as the Wisconsin 10 mile championship. I wasn't expecting much going into this years race at I ran the 50 mile trail champs two weeks prior.  I wanted to use the race as a solid effort and a chance to meet up with some of the other local runners.

The gun went off and off we went.  It didn't take long for me to realize that I wouldn't be setting any personal records.  My legs felt flat and I only had one gear.  As I settled into my one gear I found myself along side one of my WRRT teammates Brian Finnel.  Brian and I race together in 5th and 6th place with him out kicking me at the end and getting himself a new 10K PR in the process.

Link to results:
http://track.rtrt.me/e/SMA-BELLIN-2015#b=RN5JHM9W&v=lboard&c=top-men-10k&l=SPLIT

Top 10 results:
1 Allan Kiprono 29:01
2 Lani Rono 29:50
3 Meb Keflezighi 30:06
4 Benson Cheruiyot 30:23
5 Brian Finnel 30:48
6 Tyler Sigl 30:56
7 Luke Humphrey 31:12
8 Mike Morgan 31:22
9 Brandon Dworak 31:33
10 Oliver Hoffmann 31:48